Checkbox Array

Ryukotsusei

I have something I've been working on for a little while now, but I simply can't get it to do what I want. I have a PHP form referencing itself, and in this form is a list of checkboxes. Eventually they will be linked to a database, but for testing purposes I want one message to be displayed if one of them is checked, and a different message if it was left unchecked.

My problem is that even if only one is checked, they all seem to register as checked. I have scoured the internet looking for answers, but I can't seem to find anything that works. I know that in PHP any unchecked boxes will not be returned, but that doesn't explain why even the unchecked boxes are being treated as though they were checked.

Here's the checkbox in my form:

<input type='checkbox' name='codes[]' value='$code'>

And my loop:

$codes=$_POST['codes'];
for($i=0;$i<count($codes);$i++)
           {
             if(isset($codes))
             {
               $status="$code was selected.";
             }
             else
             {
               $status="$code was not selected.";
             }
           }

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

bradgrafelman

You're trying to access $codes (that is to say, $_POST['codes']) inside of the loop... so you're just referencing the entire array on each iteration of the loop rather than the items inside it.

In your example code above, you don't actually use the counter variable at all, so it might be easier to just use a [man]foreach/man loop instead. Keeping your current structure, however, you'd want to reference $_POST['codes'][$i] inside the loop.

Also note that there seems to be a lack of understanding of how checkboxes in a form work. If you don't check the box, that entity isn't submitted at all. Thus, you're only going to see the checkboxes that were checked.

Ryukotsusei

What I want to have happen when the form is submitted is that all checkbox options are still present, but with a status message next to them describing which ones were checked and which ones were not. I still want the unchecked options to be visible and state that they were unchecked.

Regardless, I tried your suggestion to modify my loop but it made no difference. I was thinking about trying a foreach loop, but I couldn't quite figure out how I might go about setting it up to do what I want. Do you have any suggestions?

bradgrafelman

Ryukotsusei wrote:
I was thinking about trying a foreach loop, but I couldn't quite figure out how I might go about setting it up to do what I want.

What you want can't be done for the reason I noted above - unchecked checkboxes aren't submitted at all.

How is the HTML for the checkboxes being generated? Is it just static HTML, or are you dynamically outputting it using PHP? Either way, one possible way to do what you're wanting would be:

<?php $i = 0; ?>
<input type='checkbox' name='codes[]' value='$code'> Checkbox #1 <?php if(isset($_POST['codes'][$i++])) echo '(checked)'; ?><br>
<input type='checkbox' name='codes[]' value='$code'> Checkbox #2 <?php if(isset($_POST['codes'][$i++])) echo '(checked)'; ?><br>
<!-- etc. -->

Ryukotsusei

What I am trying to do is build a 'hatchery' for the website http://www.dragcave.net. The dragons on this website grow up by having people view and click them.

I already had it working to the point someone could input an individual dragon's code (the last 4 digits of a dragon's url) which would successfully add it to my database, but what I want to do is allow someone to put in their username, have my site automatically detect their account's eggs and hatchlings, and then choose which ones to add to my database. The website provides an API which I'm using to gather this information from.

The page I'm working on is set up as a multi-step form. The first step is plain HTML where they put in their username. The PHP then outputs the list of their eggs and hatchlings which they can check off, and the third step is supposed to be a summary of the changes made so they can see which ones are in the database and which ones aren't. This, of course, is the part I'm having trouble with.

I tried the new bit of code you provided, although it still isn't working. If I can't get this done using only PHP, then I will move on to trying it in Javascript, although I would like to avoid that if possible.

Thank you for trying to help. I only have limited knowledge of PHP, so I'm basically trying to teach myself how to do all this as I go.